The Night Knows
by messymind
Summary: Sometimes there are things you don't realize but the night always knows the truth.
1. Chapter 1

Silent Tears

A/N I don't own anything to do with ONCE, I'm just addicted to these two fools...so very addicted and this fic idea wouldn't leave me alone

The Neverland air hung humid through-out the cabin. The gentle rocking of the ship and the sound of the Never Sea lapping up against the hull of the Roger did nothing to calm down her racing mind, or quash her fears. She was sure her mind had not given her a moment of rest or peace since they had emerged from portal. Hell, she was no longer even sure how long they'd been here in the God forsaken hellhole, she only knew why, HENRY.

This place played tricks on your mind making you question everything from who you were to how long you had even been here, its beauty luring you in only to then come face to face with immense danger. Time seemed to no longer exist in any orderly fashion and like a stray animal it seemed to come and go as it pleased. It was also making her question him; he had this way of surprising her consistently almost as if by spite. Every single damn time she thought she had him pegged he did something that completely caught her off guard; it was starting to make her question her sanity, her emotions and her feelings. She found it funny how on nights like this, when she tried to focus on their mission here, and she had to confess there were a lot of them; she found her mind turning towards him.

Those hauntingly bright blue eyes, how they always seemed to seek her out almost as if they had a mind of their own away from their master's. She would catch him staring at her unaware that he even was, mouth slightly opened as if in awe of something. In those moments she felt a stirring of butterflies pooling in her belly and as much as she tried to force it down a reddened blush would creep up her neck and splash her cheeks.

She couldn't deny that something between them had changed, that whenever he was around the air seemed to shift. She tried to play it off as another trick of Neverland, or as residual effect of the amount of times he had saved her and she him, to logic her way out of it.

She knew better though, whatever there was between them was always there. It was resting just under the surface now like a geyser being suppressed and she doubted no matter how hard she tried she would be able to keep up the pretense much longer, the one she was denying to everyone including herself, the one that was yelling at her from the back of her sub-conscious, that taunted her with words like love, lust and trust. Yes Emma Swan was ready to explode.

Somewhere during this journey, trekking the Tikki forest, almost drowning at Marooners rock, saving him from the curse of those treacherous mermaids, practicing her sword skills and dealing with the various dangers that Neverland had to offer in search of her boy, she had done the most dangerous thing of all, she had fallen in love.

She let out a soft sigh, as her feet hit the floor boards, her body was seeking him out and she was far too tired to put up much of a fight, longing to join him for one of their late night casual meetings. The first time had happened by accident, she just needed some air. Then it was every couple of nights, then every other night...and now it was every night. They would sit, sometimes in silence, sometimes he would tell her endless tales of his adventures, and sometimes she would open that one door at her walls and give him glimpses of her past and into her heart. Usually there was rum involved. It was late now and he had probably given up waiting for her, if he was even ever waiting...for her.

Perhaps, fresh air would put a stop to the trickles that were starting to seep out or maybe just maybe he'd still be there. She wasn't sure if she wanted the solitude of the night or for her heart to be right...he was waiting ...always waiting for her...for her to be ready.

She made her way quietly toward the hatch to the upper deck, careful not to wake the people sleeping behind the closed cabin doors.

Just as her head popped out of the hold, her breath hitched as her eyes caught sight of him. He was standing with his back to her at the stern the moon light playing off the dark curves of his outline. There was no denying that he was beautiful... tragic...but so very hauntingly beautiful. He was even starting to make her feel beautiful; all his compliments and even his innuendos, however inappropriate around her parents, never set off her lie detector, but her mother said that didn't work when her emotions were involved, and she didn't think her emotions had ever been more involved.

Maybe he didn't feel the way she did but he was aggressively fighting the fact that he lusted after her, the air around them almost hummed with molten desire and she saw how his eyes lingered on her lips then trailed down her body. Sometimes she wondered if he knew she was staring at him as much as he was at her. She only had to assume that like her he was fighting not to act, to give in, desire wasn't supposed to be a part of this mission. Emma was so caught-up in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice the chill that blew through the air and suddenly he was no longer alone.

There beside him now stood one of those boys, the ones that had Henry. Her heart dropped in her chest, had she been wrong to put her trust in him? Confide her fears? In-trust him with the one thing she had never trusted anyone with, her story?

A quick memory of the previous night flashed before her, was it too much rum and the stars that had forced her to completely open up about her childhood, the fear, the foster homes, Neal and his deceptions? They had almost kissed before she had made a quick sputtering exit, last night was the reason she had hesitated coming out tonight, and now she feared she was right.

As quickly as the moments of the night flashed through her mind they were gone and she gave her head a quick shake... she had to listen, she craned her neck and tried to not make a sound but her heart was jack hammering in her chest so hard she was sure it would wake up the entire ship.

What were they saying? She made out the words, him, betray, them, Skull Rock, the end of The Dark One in return, he could save her if he wanted. Had she not been looking for it she would have never even noticed the small hesitation that his body betrayed as she heard him ask after Henry. The boy replied that he would not be a part of the deal. She heard him clear then as he spoke-up his voiced laced with anger and threat "If he thinks that I'll betray HER in anyway then he's a bigger fool then I suspected and now I know that he's worried and thus he should be, because nothing will stop me from returning her boy to her...NOTHING...now be gone before I decide to gut you with my hook" "Oh and tell him that he won't win, this time he will fail, no matter the cost to myself." And with that the hooded rat was gone leaving him alone at the helm again, this time she watched as his shoulders dropped heavily and she heard a loud audible sigh leave his mouth.

HER...he had said her, not them but her. She wondered when it had started to rain as she brushed droplets off her cheek, it was then when she noticed that it wasn't rain but silent tears were pooling in her eyes and making their escape down her face.

She knew he was telling the truth that he wouldn't abandon her, ever, for any reason, and it was in that moment that idea of hope, that he felt about her, what she felt for him made its way down from her mind exploded into her heart, forcing her walls to crumble in an instant.

That geyser that she had been trying to suppress finally burst free and flooded her being with so much emotion she felt like she herself would explode. So much was going on inside her that she didn't even realize she had made her way behind him. He turned then as if sensing her presence and she saw it then, there was absolutely no masking the truth anymore, his eyes gave him away...he loved her too.

"Bloody hell Swan..."

She didn't let him finish though as the soft whisper of his real name escaped her mouth and she closed the remaining gap between them with her hands, her body and her lips.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N I'm not sure if I'm done with this story yet or not, there is still a bit more I'd like to write for it so we shall see. I don't own anything though. Thanks for the private messages, and reviews, it meant a lot.

Silent Confessions

The night engulfed him as he stood at the stern, his back to the helm, hand and hook on the rail. He let his eyes gaze out over the Never Sea. The moon was exceptionally bright, the air humid and sticky and he, he was lost in thought. Most nights since they arrived she'd have joined by now, but it had long since passed her usual arrival time and it had gotten later as he waited and he assumed she wasn't coming tonight, perhaps he was foolish to hope that she would come and maybe it was time to turn in.

It had become a ritual of sorts between the two of them, both unable to sleep, her because the nightmares that seemed to grow as time ticked by and he, he was being plagued by nightmares of a different kind. In fact if he were to be honest he hadn't slept so well in eons, and it was this fact that was terrifying him, well that and the dreams. Heavenly visions which were causing him to want to linger just a little longer every morning, with their faint hint of cinnamon and vanilla. He couldn't blame her for deciding not to come tonight; things were growing complicated between them. So instead of talking to her, he let the sound of the sea lapping off the hull lull him deep into his own mind.

He would have to suppose that most people struggled with inner demons, but he had always been carrying his darkest demons on the outside, wrapped in leather and innuendos. A constant memento at each arm, where the mixture of ink and steal reminded him what he had lived for and what he was living for. He looked down at them now, his tattoo on the right and hook on the left, tokens of his mission, there for him no matter which appendage he happened to be using and always a constant. Physical reminders of the horrible person he had become and the man that he once was.

The irony of spending centuries trying to avenge his lost love, only to abandon it for the possibility of what? Of hope? Of love? And oh how the fates must be laughing at him now, 300 years and not once had his head been turned or his heart moved, and then she was above him a halo of gold, besting him at every turn until his heart had completely turned... turned to her.

Oh and then her connection to his past, surely whatever powers dictated his future, they had an interesting sense of humor. The ex-lover of his ex-lovers son, what cruel twisted Fate had decided on that one. He supposed the only one at real fault was him, it was his fault for living so long. And at the end of the day the heart wanted what the heart wanted did it not; it was neither up to him, nor logic any longer. His body betrayed him at every move and his heart was gone.

And so it was his demons on the inside that he was fighting, the ever swelling of his heart in her presence, the way that even before his brain told them to, his eyes sought her out. The way his dreams screamed out for her.

He supposed what was funniest of all was that had he never met Milah all those years ago he would also never have met her. Perhaps it was providence that he and she would be so, so kindred, after all in many ways their lives had been altered by the same family, the choices of father, mother and son had shaped them both into the people they now were. He let himself wonder sometimes what she must have been like before that boy had broke a piece of her, when she still had hope, an easy smile and believed in love. He wouldn't be surprised if she had been somewhat like Milah then, wanting adventure, to escape her marriage to her unhappy childhood, a childhood that was the making of the man that now slept on his very ship.

If he didn't know better he would think it had been destiny and that their paths had always been meant to cross. That maybe in the deepest recesses of his heart and his head, maybe just maybe she could be his salvation and he hers. That together they could break the cycle of abandonment and heartbreak that seemed to curse both their lives.

How did he let himself get here? Surely she would never see him as more then what he was..a broken man and a villain with a darkened soul? A man who for centuries had always just looked out only for himself, who had lived for far too long, a man who was pretending?

She was trusting him though, and he wanted that trust. If was to be truly honest just this once with himself. He wanted far more than her trust. He wanted to run his hand through the endless main of gold the spun from her head, feel the weight of her body pressed beneath him, against him, to feel the heat of her breathe on his face, the sound of his real name trembling of her lips, the ghost of her kisses down his neck and on his mouth. He wanted to dive into her like she was the ocean and if he was going to be truly honest still just this once, he was irrevocably in love with her. His want for her was growing by the day and oh how he wanted her, and not just physically. She was bloody brilliant, a bright glimmer after one to many lifetimes of darkness.

So it was with this demon he found himself battling. Every moment they spent in Neverland made it harder to silence. She had saved him from himself, from a mermaid, from the loneliness that followed him all these centuries. She made him feel like a man again, a whole man.

_They'd been drinking heavily that night and sharing a comfortable silence after yet another excessively dangerous day in the jungles of the island, when suddenly her small voice cut through their silence._

"_He was the only person to ever come back to me, even after I abandoned him as a baby. No one else ever came back for me. " She whispered to him in the dark of night after a swig from the bottle, the smell of rum wafting between them. _

"_You're wrong love" He paused for a moment surely it was only the rum making the confession and not him. "I did, I came back to you." "You're the reason I turned the ship back" He wanted to tell her then all the things that his heart was holding on too, but his eye caught her hand clasping his hook like it was his missing hand, like it was the most natural thing in the world and the words got lost somewhere in his throat as he tried to hold back a unexpected sob that was trying to break out. _

_She turned to him then and in the moon light he could see pools starting to appear near her eyes and he could her struggle to retain them and that was when she leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Night Hook" she turned then and was gone, leaving behind a mix of vanilla, cinnamon and rum _

On the outside he was a fearsome pirate captain, all leather and steal, every bit the stereotype that one would expect. On the inside though he was just a man, a man who loved deeply, who fought for love, who would do anything for his second chance, a man who was afraid that he'd be rejected and that she'd not return his feelings. So he supposed being in her life in any capacity would have to be better than a life without her.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he failed to realize for a moment that he was no longer alone, his heart leapt at the prospect of it being her only to fall when he realized it was Felix.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Thanks for reading and I still don't own anything ...this chapter picks up right after the first chapter.

Not so Silent Kisses

"Killian" his name tumbled softly from her lips and his heart's pace stilled to a near stop. It was not lost on him that this was the first time she had called him that and he had not known he was awake he would never had believed that what happened next was not a dream.

Her hands slid up the lapels of his coat, her right sliding up to the nap of his neck. Her body molded into his as though she was made to fit next to him and her lips closed the remaining distance between them as he watched her eyes flutter closed. His arms wrapped around her in an instant.

At first the kiss started out almost chaste but then her tongue teased his lower lip begging for entry and his welcomed it. It was then that they began a dual for dominance...for more...as if trying to make up the months of lust, tension and desire that had been building.

In the moments when the need for oxygen was far too great they didn't part, only slowed down the kiss, taking small pockets of airs in the milliseconds between strokes. This would continue until they couldn't fight the need any longer and the pace would again pick up to a revenging speed. Their bodies disallowing them part even for the briefest of moments. The fell into this pattern as kiss continued for what seemed like forever.

But then again hadn't he been waiting multiple forevers for a kiss like this? While the need to push the kiss to a new limit was there, he was savouring every moment of it as it was. She wound her legs around his torso as he pushed her back against the helm. The fire she started in him was raging inside, he felt like every inch of him was burning up...

And it was

HEAVEN...

She let her hands explore him then, and as though her hands wanted to know every itch of him they'd previously been denied. First they lingered in his hair, tugging on it gently and eliciting a soft moan from him against her mouth, it was just as soft as she'd imagined. They made their way down his arms, admiring the hard muscles that were holding her in place. They played with the chest hair that and been taunting her all this time, crossing his firm chest and then tracing their way back to his hair.

Her lips never parted from his until finally they too decided to explore other parts of his body, his cheeks, his strong jaw and then down his neck, sucking and nipping a trail at a slowed pace.

She could feel the need to further things boiling up...and as if he was reading her mind he released her from the helm, he legs finding the deck again this time on weakened knees. Their eyes locked then and a silent agreement passed between the two, it was time to take this to his cabin. It was then that he took her hand in his right and she reached for his hook with her left. She could hear his breath hitch at her simple gesture of acceptance of him and he again pulled her close to him, his lips finding hers and she let her eyes close.

When she opened her eyes again gingerly, she almost feared that it was all just a dream but then her eyes reconnect with his deep blue ones. She felt as if his deep blue orbs were opening right into his soul as they told her all the things she needed to know but then he pulled her in close again. And as if to quash any question at all in her mind and to silence any possible doubt that could creep in, his mouth whispered in a voice so low that it was hardly audible over the pounding of their thundering hearts and the beating of the ocean against the hull, and had his lips not been so close to her ear as his face buried in her hair she wouldn't have even heard it...the faint confession of

LOVE...


End file.
